Proceeds from the Otago Heritage Bus Society's Easter service will be used to restore the society's latest acquisition to its original colours.
The 1979 Leyland Leopard was acquired last year after being out of service for seven years in Auckland.
It had been in service in Dunedin until 1993, before going to Wellington, and is still painted in the colours of Newlands Coach Services in Wellington.
Driven from Auckland to Dunedin in December, it was back in service as part of the heritage fleet on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Helped by volunteer drivers from Dunedin and Christchurch bus companies, the society operated two city routes when the public transport network was not operating.
The Suburban Rumbler service used former Dunedin City Council buses of the 1970s to carry 580 people on Friday, and 883 passengers on Sunday, raising about $1400, society treasurer Jacqui Hellyer said.
The bus would be repainted in original tan and yellow colours.
Mechanic and society volunteer Anthony Holliday, of Dunedin, travelled to Auckland last October to get the bus back on the road.
It had been in a worse state of repair than he had anticipated, and it took an intensive four days of work to get it back to a roadworthy state.
Operations manager Andrew Robinson said the Suburban Rumbler service was gaining something of a ''cult following'' in Dunedin over Easter.
The service was a ''great leveller'', carrying the city's least fortunate alongside overseas tourists.
